Apple announced they are getting into the mobile ads business with iAds. This was coupled with the Apple iPhone OS 4.0 announcement. They'll offer developers a 60% revenue split and Steve Jobs stated it's all HTML 5-based technology. Nifty!

It might not be quite video advertising, but it's certainly going to have an impact on the market. It's entirely possible that is is some form of video advertising coupled with some interactive overlays. The ads that they displayed did offer some video trailers (for Toy Story) as well as some other forms of interaction. The ads will be directly embedded into applications and that will be how the developers can help offset the creation of bigger and better apps for the iPhone/Pod/Pad platforms.

Steve Jobs stated that users are in one app or another for about 30 minutes per day and predicts it is possible to be serving over 1 billion ads per day by the end of they year (Ya-ouch!). Since they bought Quattro we can only assume that a lot of this ad technology will come from them. But they were only pushing about 4B ads per month, will they have the infrastructure to support 1B a day?

Apple will manage all aspects of the network including sales, support and ad-serving and offer devs 60% of the revenue. Down 10% from standard developer revenue splits, but considering the larger amount of support and resources needed it's not all that surprising. I believe that 60% is about standard for most ad networks (at least in my experience anyway).

It seems that Apple is committed to bucking against Adobe and Steve Jobs made sure to emphasize the fact that it was all HTML 5 and that no Adobe Flash will be needed in either apps or to serve the ads. It certainly seems like they could begin to tip the scale in their favor on their long-standing disagreement with Adobe. It all just seems so typical of Apple to me, this is the company that flew a pirate flag over a major team meeting and posed with it for Fortune magazine after all. I think this anti-Adobe thing is all parts of Jobs "better to be a pirate than join the Navy" outlook that he expressed back in 1983 (the same year as the photo). I have to sort of agree with him there having been both so to speak.

Apple's move into mobile ads has been heralded as a godsend of sorts with everyone from pundits to even the competition admitting that it's certainly going to raise the bar for the quality of mobile ads which Jobs is quoted as saying "suck"

Probably the coolest thing about it all is the fact that it's all in-app. You never have to leave the app to see and interact with the ads. Probably something that couldn't be done prior to the multitasking of iPhone OS 4.0 and probably a major reason for it being implemented finally.

Along with all of this they also announced Apple Game Center which will be a central social network for gaming. If you're really interested in that you can read my article on it over at Gamers Daily News: Apple Announces Gaming Center (nothing wrong with a little self-promotion right?)

Apple has stated that iPhone 4.0 will be ready this summer and will be compatible with the iPad and newer versions of the iPhone and iPod touch. My how the Apple tree is growing these days. Pretty soon they might simply be everywhere, unless Google has something to say about it (they're trying to acquire AdMob and become a larger player in the mobile ad market as well).

About the Author - Christophor Rick

Christophor Rick is a freelance writer specializing in technology, new media, video games, IPTV, online video advertising and consumer electronics. His past work has included press releases, copy-writing, travel writing and journalism. He also writes novel-length and short fiction as part of Three-Faced Media . View All Posts By - Christophor Rick